


What Others Only Catch A Glimpse Of

by flamingosarepink



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Gary and Jamie are retired top level rival Show Jumpers, M/M, Slightly inspired by their Sky Racing segment, The Equestrian AU that literally no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 22:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13890339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingosarepink/pseuds/flamingosarepink
Summary: “Well, he wasn’t your competitor for years and years.”





	What Others Only Catch A Glimpse Of

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot believe that i'm actually posting this because I actually never intended to however, since Gary and Jamie did that Racing segment for Sky I can now justify posting it instead of having it just sitting in my saved file whilst debating on whether or not to delete it. Title of the fic is from part of a quote by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The morning is quiet and Gary spends most of his time in the calm atmosphere of Foaling barn looking in on his 3 mares and their newborns before his 10:00 appointment starts. He peeks in on a particular one, steps quiet as he walks up to her stall front so he doesn’t wake the chestnut colored foal nestled in the knee high pine shavings who is a carbon copy of his mother with four white legs and a white belly spot like his father, save for the lion branded into her hip. Briefly the mare looks up from her pile of hay and offers a nicker in greeting. Gary smiles gently, remembering the moments they shared together all over the world in various competitions competing for England. The two of them used to be champions once. 

He glances down at his watch before leaving as quietly as he arrived.

Once outside, he takes in a deep breath of fresh morning air. Even though things are peaceful, the whole farm is busy with work. Off to his left, there’s a young horse being worked on the long line by a working student- only just training to get used to a saddle in a round pen. The large indoor riding hall looms not too far beyond that, ready to be used in the winter when the outdoor will be covered with a layer of snow. Carefully he watches, the working student never notices. The outdoor arena with its course of 15 multi colored show jumps is busy with 5 horses being worked. Phil, his brother, oversees what Gary can’t. Briefly Phil was working with the Olympic team yet came back here to help Gary and he couldn’t do this without him. “Move him forward a little more and add a little left leg, he’s not using himself properly!” Phil says loud enough for Gary to hear. The particular horse Phil is talking about is on the side of not too young but not too old at 12 years old, talented and notoriously difficult despite having a slew of wins under his belt in some of the 1.40 divisions in Florida last winter. He’s got the classic look- brown coat with a jet black mane, matching black tail and one white right hind ankle. The young gelding has a slightly dished face with a white half moon christening his face, and he’s not too tall either, barely standing 16 hands. 

Gary walks back to the main barn where the currently competing horses are kept. He prefers to keep more competition horses than ones for breeding, on advice from his coach from his competition days. In the current show string, there’s 10. It’s a manageable amount, not too big but not too small. This was a way for him to stay in the sport he loves without being in the limelight like he was as a competitor, preferring the merits that come along with standing arena side when one of his horses wins at Olympia or Hickstead, two of the biggest shows in England. 

As he passes through the barn towards his office, another working student clears her throat as she stops brushing the jet black horse she’s been charged with caring for. “I don’t know if you were expecting anyone, but there’s someone waiting for you.” Her tone of voice indicates uneasiness, and that’s never a good sign as she slightly tips her head towards the open door of Gary’s office.

“Who is it?” From the look on her face and the way she goes back to grooming silently, Gary purses his lips. 

Once he reaches his office towards the end of the barn with its reminders of past and present accolades which include his own, Gary shifts uncomfortably once he enters as he notices the man standing with his back to the door, and he can only guess that his somewhat unwanted guest is looking at the pictures taken of the horses after their various wins. In hindsight, he didn’t even need the working student to tell him who the person was, Gary already knew when he saw the shade of red of his puffer vest. 

“What ever it is that you need, please make it quick.” Gary says flatly, his tone betraying the bites the inside of his cheek nervously.

“Stevie needs a horse for one of his junior riders, she’s stepping up to 2 star level with an aim to compete at some of the larger international shows. Her horse is out with an injury and we’re looking for something specific. From what i’ve been told you’ve got the right one.” Jamie turns around, hands tucked in his pockets before tilting his head towards one of the pictures- taken in some small show in Holland last summer. The horse in the picture isn’t small but not tall either, the perfect shade of chestnut with only a dash of white on his forehead. 

“How long will this horse be out?” Gary asks although it’s only a formality as he walks the short distance to sit behind his desk. This wasn’t how he’d planned out his morning. Absentmindedly he flips through the prizelist for the Longines Masters in Paris. 

“A year maybe two.” Jamie’s voice dips low, like things are more serious than he’s letting on.

But Gary is impatient. “If you’re thinking about Charlton, you can just forget it.” His tone is to the point and matter of fact. In essence, he understands why they want _that_ particular horse given his resume- Lightly shown, previous rider was also a junior who competed him up to 1.45 at numerous smaller yet still prestigious International events. Added to that, he’s got that star quality the minute he steps into the ring and almost jumps a perfect ten.

“Gary.” Jamie says it like he knew this moment was coming. If he’s honest, Stevie had warned him about this. _“Gary keeps a small group and maintains it, and he doesn’t sell anything. But he’s got the best horses around here and I doubt that he’ll let anyone outside of England compete this horse. That will work to our advantage, but you’ve got to attempt to sway him.”_ With a heavy sigh, he looks from a photo on the wall back to Gary. “We don’t even have to buy, Stevie will agree to a lease. We’ll agree to whatever terms you have, but Charlton fits what we’re looking for. ” 

“My answer’s no.” Plain, simple, and flatly. Jamie heaves out a sigh, and Gary is still flipping through his prizelist unfazed by Jamie’s promises of meeting whatever demands are had. In fairness, Stevie had warned him. 

“What would it take for you to say yes? More money?”

“You know don’t care about the money.” Stubborn as always.

“How could I forget, you got offered loads for that mare of yours you won the European Championships and the World Cup with. Still have her?” 

“Of course I still have her. She had a male foal by Emerald this year.” Jamie can see Gary’s lips quirk up to a little smile. “Her first.” Gary says again, this time closing his prizelist and looking up at his visitor- arms folded on his desk top. 

“I remember her well. She was the reason I didn’t win the WEG in the end, because of the final four switch.” It’s not like either could forget that particular competition, with it coming down to the two of them for the gold. Gary had ridden Jamie’s famous stallion Anfield. Jamie had ridden Gary’s mare Salford. 

“Will you discuss Charlton with me over dinner? Phil told me about your favorite place in town.” 

Gary’s eyebrows raise in amazement. “Did he really?” He seems to be fighting off a chuckle too. 

“Phil’s quite nice you know, he was more than happy to talk to me.” Gary is unable to fight off the chuckle this time knowing that his brother went behind his back to give away his favorite restaurant location to someone who was simply a rival and anything but a friend. 

“Well, he wasn’t your competitor for years and years.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here are a few subjects from the fic explained, that may not be known to anyone who read this:
> 
> \- Emerald is a world famous Show Jumping stallion (male horse fit for breeding) and one of my favorites currently competing on the world circuit.
> 
> \- Overseas in Europe, it is popular (at least in the old days) for breed associations to brand horses (both male and female) that have been approved and fit for breeding with the emblem of the Association. In this case, the Lion is the emblem of the KWPN or Dutch Warmblood Association in The Netherlands. 
> 
> \- The Longines Paris Masters is a annual competition held in Paris every year from November 30th to December 3rd and is the first in a series, the other two events being held in Hong Kong and New York. 
> 
> \- Olympia and Hickstead are, as said in the fic, two of the biggest events of the year in England. 
> 
> \- A Junior rider is a rider anywhere from the age of 13-18. 
> 
> \- A horse's height is measured in hands, and 16 hands for a horse is a moderate height. It's not short, but not large.
> 
> \- Chestnut is a color of a horse that is almost the same color of a penny or copper. 
> 
> \- WEG is the World Equestrian Games, and it used to be that the final four riders in the competition would switch and ride each other's horses. This was also the final round of competition, and decided the winner.
> 
> \- Show Jumping is a discipline of the Equestrian sport in which you jump a course, timed. The horse and rider that finish the course fastest and with no time faults (which can be accumulated by either knocking a pole or refusal to jump a jump) wins.


End file.
